Monday, December 31, 2012

You're Invited to a Benefit for the Hokuloa Church Bell Tower Repair Fund

A Repeat Chamber Music Recital

Friday or Saturday Evening

January 4th or 5th, 2013, 7:00p.m.

At the Hokuloa Church in Puako

69-1600 Puako Beach Drive, Kamuela

Limited Seating

RSVP: 808-883-8295

The Hokuloa Church was erected through the inspiration of Christian faith instilled in Hawaiians by the Rev. Lorenzo Lyons (1807-1886), an American Congregational missionary who came to the Big Island of Hawaii in 1832. The church structure now stands as a tribute to his labors which began in the village of Puako about 1835.

Hokuloa took two years to build and was dedicated on March 21, 1860 serving as a house of worship until the termination of the Puako sugar plantation in 1914. Following that, the landmark fell into disrepair and near ruin until an attempt to restore the Church was undertaken in 1966. In 1990 the building was completely restored and a new congregation was established. Currently, the bell tower is in need of repair and fundraising is in progress.

The recitals will include the Voice of the Wood Chamber Players and organist Gllian Flack. Light desserts will be served during intermission.

Pastor: Small-scale fundraisers are not going to fix building

December 16, 2012

Termites are chewing away at the 136-year-old Ka'ahumanu Church, but at least four years of church fundraisers have not brought congregation members anywhere near the $850,000 needed to refurbish the iconic, often-photographed church.

On Thursday, Pastor Wayne Higa said that years of rummage sales, craft fairs, concerts, pulehu steak plate sales and the now-annual "Restoring Our History" event have not even reached $50,000.

"We have a ways to go," Higa said.

Termite and dry damage can be seen recently in Ka‘ahumanu Church’s steeple. An overhaul of the church’s structure is estimated to cost $850,000, but years of church fundraisers have raised less than $50,000.The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Now, it's clear that small-scale fundraisers are "not going to fix the church," he said, and the effort is shifting to a "big capital fundraising program."

"Now, we just gotta raise the big money," Higa said, with church leaders setting their sights on grants from big donors, like corporations willing to support a historic preservation project.

Maui-based Hawaii Inspection Group has completed its work of determining what needs to get done, but the task ahead is to raise funds to "actually get the hammer and nails going," he said.

The scope of work includes restoring a leaning steeple, reroofing, waterproofing the church exterior, repairing its foundation and doing historical preservation on pews, windows and front doors.

Letters to potential corporate sponsors of the church preservation project should go out early next year, Higa said.

One concern, he said, is whether the church and its steeple could be further damaged from vibrations caused by the "banging and pounding" of the demolition of the former Wailuku Post Office across High Street.

Another worry is the deteriorated condition of old lumber in the church steeple, he said. "A lot of it is old and rotten and termite eaten."

A first step will be to fumigate the church to at least stop the termite damage, Higa said.

A large-scale project, such as a complete overhaul of the church structure, is beyond the experience of folks in the church's tiny congregation of 20 to 30 members, he said.

"We've never taken on something like this," he said. "It's new to us. It's a learning process as we move forward."

Another possible source of funding could be historic preservation groups, he said, but the problem is that those groups often don't have funding themselves.

Higa said he hopes that the project to restore the church also will "help bring the congregation together" and lead to growth in the church membership.

"We have a good group of people," he said. "It's still small, but it's more than when my wife and I started coming to church here."

Higa has been pastor, or kahu, of the congregational church for six years.

The church began Aug. 19, 1832, when services were conducted under a thatched roof. The church grounds are the site of a royal compound and heiau dating back to the 18th-century chief Kahekili.

The church structure was built in 1876 by Wailuku Sugar Co. and the Rev. Edward Bailey, and it was named in honor of Hana-born Queen Ka'ahumanu, the favorite wife of King Kamehameha the Great.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

People mingle on the slab of the Hanalei Pier where the canopy was removed Wednesday. The removal of the deteriorating canopy is a prelude to the restoration work spearheaded by the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay scheduled to start in early 2013. (Photo by Dennis Fujimoto: The Garden Island)

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HANALEI —A couple from South Carolina quizzically looked at the Hanalei Pier, walking out to the slab with measured steps while pondering the scene Wednesday.

The couple said they knew something was missing after they were informed the canopy, or roof, was gone.

Work on the removal of the canopy started Monday by Wells Custom Homes, who were awarded a contract from the State of Hawai‘i, Department of Land and Natural Resources.

“I’m glad we got the contract to do the work,” said Grant Wells. “There were six companies bidding for the contract, and I’m glad we had the winning bid because we’ll be working with the restoration crews, too.”

The removal of the deteriorating canopy is a prelude to the restoration work being spearheaded by the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay.

“We’re staying out of the canopy removal part,” said Sally Motta, a Hanalei Rotarian, who started the effort for the restoration three years ago with a fundraiser. “Now that the canopy is gone, it’s our turn.”

During the past three years, the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay hosted a number of fundraisers to pay for both the restoration work as well as have some funds available for maintenance and upkeep.

“We didn’t want the demolition to start too soon because the plans had to be drawn up and arrangements made for the work on restoring the shed on the well-known Hanalei Pier,” Motta said.

As visitors pondered the missing canopy on the well-recognized structure, Wells and his crew were combing through the dismantled structure.

“We’re sorting through the material and salvaging the stainless steel brackets,” Wells said. “We will be reusing the ones which can be salvaged. The structure was at a point where it would have come down, whether we did it or not.”

Tony Motta, president of the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay, said tentatively, work on the restoration should start some time in January.

“A lot of it depends on getting the materials,” he said. “The effort is a collaborative one involving the Rotarians, the state and the county.”

Wells said while working on the dismantling, he was approached by Chad Pacheco, chair of the annual North Shore Fishing Tournament, which uses the Hanalei Pier as its weigh station.

“Chad said we have until June to get the job completed,” Wells said. “That’s when the next fishing tournament is scheduled.”

The Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay is still accepting donations toward its “Save the Hanalei Pier” fund. Visitwww.hanaleirotary.orgfor more information.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

A fire that scorched the exterior of the Westin Moana Surfrider may have been intentionally set, and Honolulu fire and police officials have both opened arson investigations into the blaze at the 111-year-old Waikiki hotel.

Flames from the fire early Wednesday started in a construction trash bin, rose as high as the sixth floor of the hotel and blew out the windows on the first and second floors, fire officials said.There was also façade damage on the hotel, which is designated on the National Register of Historic Places.

Hotel guests were evacuated early Wednesday morning after the fire broke out, but no injuries were reported.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) 2013 Historic Sites calendar, “The Architecture of H.L. Kerr” is now available.

The 2013 calendar, a project of the DLNR and the Hawaii Heritage Center, features the work of celebrated architect H.L. Kerr, who designed more than 1,000 buildings in Hawaii and was the only architect to continuously reside and operate his own office in the Islands throughout the first three decades of the 20th century. Much of his work endures today.

Sites featured in the calendar include the W.H. Shipman House in Hilo, Maui County Courthouse in Wailuku, and Cooke Hall (Punahou School), Kawaiaha'o Hall (Mid-Pacific Institute), Hawaiian Electric Building, Moana Hotel wings, Tai Sing Society Hall, Kaumakapili Church, Hustace Block and McCandless buildings, Mission Memorial building, and Linekona School in Honolulu. The covers feature details of the Yokohama Specie Bank and entrance to the 'A'ala Park comfort station built in 1916, the first public restroom in Honolulu.

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Linekona School

﻿The calendar is also packed with useful information such as boating safety tips, a tide chart and phases of the moon, with astronomical information provided by Hokulani Imaginarium at Windward Community College and tide predictions provided by EKNA Services Inc., Larry E. Browner, P.E.

Creative contributions include photography by David Franzen, design and production by Viki Nasu Design Group, and printing by Edward Enterprises, Inc.

Calendars are $10 each for the first 10 purchased and $5 each for 11 or more. Shipping is additional. Proceeds from calendar sales go to support current or future calendar costs.

Calendars are available for purchase from the Hawaii Heritage Center gallery at 1040 Smith St. in Chinatown (between King and Hotel Streets) or by phone at (808) 521-2749. The center is open between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and closed on state holidays.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Details from the Life of H.L Kerr

Harry Livingston Kerr was born on Sept. 11, 1863, at Port Ewen, Ulster County, New York, to Mary (Tronson) Kerr and William Henry Kerr, a marine architect. He attended Kingston Academy and a private architecture school, and then worked two years in a New York architect’s office (1883-1885) before following the time honored advice, “Go west, young man, go west and grow up with the country.”

He practiced architecture in San Diego, California, from 1887 to1890, then two years in the state of Washington, before moving to Portland, Oregon, where he maintained an office from 1892 to 1897. He married his wife, Jennie R. Paris, in San Francisco on Sept. 15, 1891, and with her had three children.

On Dec.7, 1897, with Hawaii on the verge of being annexed as a territory of the United States of America, Kerr landed at Honolulu Harbor. At the time of his arrival, his architectural competition consisted of the firmly established partnership of Ripley and Dickey, and Minnesota architect Oliver G. Traphagan, who had opened his office in Honolulu less than a month before Kerr’s appearance on the scene.

Before the 19th century concluded, several other architects were also attracted to the prospects of work that annexation and its anticipated political and economic stability might provide. These men included George A. Howard and his partner Robert F. Train, William Matlock Campbell, and the partnership of Frederick W. Beardslee and George W. Page.

The most talented of the group, Traphagan, garnered the choicest turn-of-the century commissions, and as a result a number of the aspiring architectural offices abandoned the field within several years.

Between 1900 and 1904, Kerr augmented his design work by forming the Honolulu Clay Company in partnership with M.L. Smith, C. G. Ellison and F. R. Litherland. Established in the wake of the Chinatown fire, the enterprise used a high quality clay deposit discovered in Nuuanu valley to make local bricks to compete with imported brick, “which is so costly here at times and at times not obtainable for any consideration.”

By 1907, Hawaii’s slumping sugar industry and an accompanying decline in construction led Ripley, Dickey and Traphagan to seek more lucrative places to apply their expertise, leaving only Kerr in business.

For the next decade, he was the preeminent architect in Hawaii. He continued to practice throughout the 1920s, when he also became involved with Waikiki’s apartment business, owning the Kerr Apartments at Kalakaua and Liliuokalani, and another apartment building on Ala Wai Boulevard.

At the time of his death in 1937, he had designed more than 1,000 buildings in Hawaii and was the only architect to continuously reside and operate his own office in the Islands throughout the first three decades of the 20th century.

Kerr’s work in Hawaii reflected the design propensities of the period, drawing heavily upon classical elements in their ornamentation. However, he employed these elements in a less rigid manner than most of his contemporaries, seemingly drawing upon the ebullient and picturesque spirit of the period when he first established himself as an architect.

Much of the decorative work which Kerr incorporated in his work was made from terra cotta fabricated on the West Coast, a material which became popular in England in the 1860s and a decade later found its way to the United States. In addition, Kerr employed decorative elements made from cast concrete and cast plaster.

The concrete blocks emulating natural stone, which were used in both Linekona School and the Maui County Courthouse were cast on site by the contractor using molds provided by Kerr.

Considering the relative scarcity of buildings remaining in Hawaii from the opening decades of the 20th century, that so many examples of Kerr’s work remain is a testament to the esteem in which they are held.

Friday, December 7, 2012

The Watch can help energize communities and promote collective action at heritage sites. After the Chiloé Churches in Chile were included on the 1996 Watch, WMF helped restore several of the structures and supported specialized training for local communities in traditional crafts and interpretation methods. A local group in Taxco de Alarcón, Mexico, nominated the baroque church of Santa Prisca to the 2000 Watch. Since then, WMF has supported this strong community effort to stabilize and restore the church, reversing years of neglect. Following inclusion of the Kyoto Machiya Townhouses on the 2010 Watch, WMF supported a model conservation project to foster machiya restoration and strengthen networks within the community. To promote community action, WMF has also launched Watch Day, an opportunity to enhance public engagement at Watch sites through locally designed events.

Read below to learn more about how you can nominate a site to the Watch and make a difference.

2014 World Monuments Watch nominations are now being accepted. Deadline for nominations is March 1, 2013.

The World Monuments Watch calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is at risk from the forces of nature and the impact of social, political, and economic change. From archaeological sites to iconic architecture, cultural landscapes to historic urban centers, the Watch identifies places of significance in need of timely action.

Nominating a site to the Watch is a two-part process. Click here to submit an initial inquiry, after which a username and password will be provided to access the secure Online Nomination Form.

Information about the 2014 World Monuments Watch can be found at wmf.org/watch

Questions about the nomination process should be directed to watch@wmf.org

Please forward this email to colleagues and contacts who might be interested in submitting a nomination. Thank you for your interest in the World Monuments Watch!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Russian Fort Elizabeth was built along Waimea River between 1815 and 1817.

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Russian Fort Elizabeth, along Waimea River on the west side of Kauai, was built between 1815 and 1817.

It was built in collaboration with Kaumualii, the last king of Kauai, and had a substantial effect on the politics on Kauai. The site is also significant as one of the last remaining early post-contact, pre-missionary structures, and as having been built from the materials of Kaumualii's luakini class heiau Pa Ula Ula.

It is a formidable 20-foot-high stone structure with an octagon-shaped layout about 300 feet wide by 450 feet across. The ramparts and cannon emplacements provided substantial stone platforms to ward off potential attackers.

By 1817 the Russians had departed, but the fort was garrisoned by the Kamehameha forces until the 1850s to protect Kamehameha's interests on Kauai.

An important event occurred in 1824, after the death of Kaumualii. His son, Prince George, believed he should be the rightful ruler of Kauai, in spite of his father's pledge of allegiance to Kamehameha.

Prince George and followers attacked the fort and were quickly repulsed by the Kamehameha forces. This is the last known armed challenge to Kamehameha's authority.

By the 1980s many of the stone walls had crumbled and the remaining walls were covered with the roots of invasive foliage that continued to damage and displace the remaining walls.

In 2006, the West Kauai Business & Professional Association entered into an agreement with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to clean and maintain the fort grounds and crumbling walls.

Today the invasive trees have been removed and the roots are being treated in an effort to preserve the remaining stone walls of the fort.

Visitors are allowed to walk through the structure on gravel paths but are asked not to walk along the walls in order to protect the structure from further damage.

The business association is considering developing a plan for public input and budget for a restoration and interpretive plan for the fort.

Discussions were held with Russian delegates to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings as participants in the proposed restoration project, reflecting the international interest in this site.

The community in Waimea is looking forward to planning the fort's 200th anniversary in 2015. Community and governmental input will be needed to develop an interpretational plan that is expected to cost $250,000 or more.